Intercessory prayer is the purifying bath into which the individual
and the community must enter every day.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
and the community must enter every day.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
Before You Ask
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:7-8)
Many people think their prayers won’t work if they don’t utter them clearly enough, or fail to explain to God exactly what they mean, or don’t speak loudly enough to him with sufficient earnestness. But when this happens, prayer becomes so exaggerated that our Savior even forbids it.
Obviously Jesus does not want to discourage us from praying. His point is that when we pray we must have a sense of proportion. Once we have prayed, we must be quiet. We need to be like the farmer who has sown his seed. Help will come only when you are quiet in faith. Also in your sickness or with other needs, learn to be still and look to the Kingdom of God.
We can share our needs with the Father in a few words, without making a fuss, and rest assured that God already knows what we need and what he will do to help us. We don’t have to explain our requests in great detail to God, or try and make quite sure that he knows our needs. God knows about even the smallest matters and takes them straight into his heart. We can turn to him by glancing Heavenward, with no words at all. We can do this even when we pray about something concrete and tangible, or about something that specifically troubles us. We may realize that what we thought we needed is actually not necessary and that we can find a way right in the midst of how things are now.
This doesn’t mean that we just let things happen – as if everything will come of its own accord without our longing for it. Nor should we just cast a brief and hurried request at God’s feet. When this happens, we too easily lose sight of God, assume that everything comes to us without his help, and we forget to thank him. Then we cease to have a believing heart and are consequently not true children of God.
Jesus said, “Before you ask him.” Therefore we do need to make our requests known to him, otherwise many things will not be given that could have been given. It never displeases God when we come to him with our heartfelt requests. A real child asks for everything, knowing God has an ear for him. We should bring all our burdens and needs to him, for at the very least this helps to make us ever more aware that in all things God is the giver.
God always has our interest in mind. He carries our various needs with fatherly concern, eagerly waiting for us to come to him. He has not forgotten us. And when we feel tempted to think so, then all the more we should remember that he knows it all and cares for us. In fact, he knows much more about us and our needs than we do. Simple, childlike prayer is enough to move his heart, give you something out of the fullness of his compassion, and save you from all sorts of fear and trouble.
(Johann Christoph Blumhardt)
(The God Who Heals, Words of Hope for a Time of Sickness)
Request a prayer and pray for others
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Julia
A Prayer for the Feast Day of Samuel Shoemaker
Holy God, we offer thanks for the vision of Samuel Shoemaker, priest and cofounder of Alcoholics
Anonymous; and we pray that we may follow his example to help others find salvation through knowledge and love of Jesus Christ our Savior; who with thee and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Received: January 31, 2018
Julia
O Lord, who alone can cast out the evil passions and desires of the soul: Come among us, we pray thee, and by thy mighty power subdue our spiritual enemies, and set us free from the tyranny of sin. We ask it in thy name and for thy glory. Amen. (Henry Alford)
Received: January 29, 2018
Julia
Please pray for Robert, who himself is sick with the flu, and for his infant son, Noah, who is very ill and very likely has RSV and may be admitted to the hospital.
Received: January 28, 2018
Julia
A Prayer for Larry
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers for the healing of Larry, who recently had his fifth heart attack.
Amen.
Received: January 26, 2018
Julia
A Prayer for the Feast Day of Timothy and Titus and Silas
Just and merciful God, who in every generation has raised up prophets, teachers and witnesses to summon the world to honor and praise thy holy Name: We give thanks for the calling of Timothy, Titus and Silas, whose gifts built up thy Church in the power of the Holy Spirit. Grant that we, too, may be living stones built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who with thee and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God now and forever. Amen.
Received: January 26, 2018
Julia
A Prayer for the Feast Day of the Conversion of Saint Paul
O God, who by the preaching of thine apostle Paul hast caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world: Grant, we beseech thee, that we, having his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may show forth our thankfulness unto thee for the same by following the holy doctrine which he taught; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Received: January 25, 2018
Julia
O thou who sendest forth the light, createst the morning, and makest the sun to rise on the good and the evil: Enlighten the blindness of our minds with the knowledge of the truth; lift up the light of thy countenance upon us, that in thy light we may see light, and, at the last, in the light of grace today and the light of glory thereafter; through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Lancelot Andrewes)
Received: January 24, 2018
Julia
Prayers for Paxton
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers for:
Paxton, a little boy diagnosed with a fatal seizure disorder and especially for comfort for his family
Amen.
(Celtic Anglican's Ramblings: Hanging by a Thread)
Received: January 23, 2018
Edmund Krzeminski
[We read] In the King James Bible, Ezekiel 22:30: "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none."
O God, please help us and teach us to build a wall [of prayer] around the USA, Canada and Poland. Are you ready to stand in the gap, where God is the Helper and Teacher?
Please pray that Poland, the USA/Canada would overcome for: (The Acts 26.18).
* Poland, pray for freedom from dead religion to saving faith in God through Jesus Christ as the Saviour and the Lord by grace only,
* the Church in the USA, Canada – Pray for repentance and cleansing of the church--Matt. 3.12 "Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
* my family:
1. Stir up the hearts of my family for ministry—for me, my wife Dorothy, our daughter Ann, and our sons Peter and Daniel - "..but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" Joshua 24.15
2. Pray God's will and wisdom for me and my family; I ask God for great wisdom in school for Daniel, and for Edmund’s work situation, for Dorothy and Peter (also God's direction for his life) and Ann (God's protection over the company where she works),
3. God's order in my work. I ask God for great wisdom at my work. Blessings and the knowledge of Jesus Christ for my bosses. Thank God for the continuation of my work.
Edmund & Dorothy Krzeminski
Received: January 22, 2018
Julia
Prayer For The Third Week Of Epiphany
Almighty Father, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: may your people, illumined by your word and sacraments, shine with the radiance of his glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the Earth; for he is alive and reigns, now and for ever. Amen. (The Church of England)